YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Pastor Arnie Lewis of Young Harris Methodist church has inspired and energized his people for years.

But since he got his first e-mail account, he’s been annoying the entire congregation with fifty forwarded messages per week.

“I wish I’d never given him my e-mail address,” bemoans one man, summing up the widespread sentiment.

Another woman, who gives her name as “Missy,” confesses that the “first thing I do in the morning is delete pastor’s forwarded stories.

“I used to read each one,” she says. “Then it became overwhelming. I have three kids. I was becoming a slave to my inbox.”

Lewis’s messages usually arrive with subject lines reading, “Fwd: Urgent prayer request,” or “Fwd: You’ll LOVE this story.” Lewis includes a quick note at the top that says something like, “I had to pass this one along! It’s worth the read! Blessings, everybody!”

Many of the prayer requests are from people entirely unknown to the church, or to Lewis.

People have created different ways of coping with the flood of forwards. Some create special folders where Lewis’s messages go automatically. But nobody has been brave enough to block his mail altogether. Some slog through each forward, considering it part of their religious duty. One man calculated it takes him “about 3 hours per week” to go through them all.

“Pastor could use that time to write sermons or counsel someone,” he complains. “Multiply that by the hundreds of people on the ‘To: line, and that’s hundreds of wasted hours.”

A church board member says he may broach the issue with Lewis soon.

“If one more cute story of dubious veracity lands in my inbox, I’m bringing it up at the next meeting,” he says. •